Irish brace for Donald Trump

DUBLIN — Want to make an Irish government official smile? Ask about U.S. Vice President Joe Biden's arrival in the Emerald Isle Tuesday.

Want to make them squirm? Ask them about the possibility that Donald Trump may crash the party.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee tweeted last month that he would visit a Trump golf course in Ireland June 24 on top of a visit to his country club in Scotland — all, incidentally, as citizens of the United Kingdom vote in the landmark "Brexit" referendum on whether the U.K. should remain in the European Union.

The trip isn't on the schedule that Trump's team gave to reporters last week. But if he does show up, some Trump critics in the Emerald Isle are planning protests against over his views on Muslims, immigrants and more, however.

"If he comes, we'll be out there protesting," Eamon Ryan, a former energy minister who's now the head of the Irish Green Party, told POLITICO "In a globalized world, if he gets in, that does damage to us."

The Brexit referendum adds an odd backdrop: the campaign has been dominated by its own debates over immigration, diversity and tolerance and has regularly drawn comparisons to the U.S. presidential race.

And by a quirk of timing, Democrats will have an on-the-ground rapid-response team ready: Biden, who will be making his first extended visit to the old sod from June 21-25. Irish politicians are clamoring for an audience with Biden. The vice president, for whom Irish jokes are a go-to applause line, arrived in Ireland Tuesday and will look into his family roots before capping the week with a speech about the "values of tolerance, diversity and inclusiveness" in Dublin, according to his office.

In contrast, Irish government officials have been awkwardly discussing how to deal with a potential visit by a Trump, a divisive figure who's nevertheless a potential head of state — and an investor in Ireland — officials told POLITICO.

Trump was feted by the Irish government two years ago when he bought the course. But things have obviously changed a bit in the last two years.

Irish prime minister Enda Kenny recently called Trump's views "racist and dangerous." But then he quickly clarified that he would be willing to meet with the American businessman — a reflection of Ireland's reputation as a business-friendly country.

Irish officials reacted awkwardly when the topic of Trump same up.

"I've always been an Obama man, and Trump is no Obama," offered Eoghan Murphy, the Irish minister of state in charge of financial services, in an interview with POLITICO.

Ryan, the Green Party leader, says he intends to organize protests in the town of Ennis, near the gold course, and on O'Connell Street in Dublin.

The road is named after Daniel O'Connell — an Irish nationalist leader who was friends with American abolitionist and civil rights leader Frederick Douglas and was devoted to "American constitutional values," Ryan says. "That's not Trump."

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Fintan

This line: ” presumptive GOP presidential nominee tweeted last month that he would visit a Trump golf course in Ireland June 24 on top of a visit to his country club in Scotland — all, incidentally, as citizens of the United Kingdom vote in the landmark “Brexit” referendum on whether the U.K. should remain in the European Union.” seems to suggest that Ireland is part of the UK, or has a direct say in Brext. You should clarify it.